Alfie is 12 weeks old and we have had him for almost 3 weeks, everything has been reasonably easy so far, but now that he is getting bigger he is also getting more boysterous.

He is particualrly hyper especially first thing in the morning. We get him up and let him outside but all the while he is jumping up at us and nipping at anything he can get his teeth into, legs shins, ankles, he isn't fussy!! This behaviour carrys on until he has worn himself out.

Ignoring wouldn't work because unless we want ripped up legs we have to physically push him away, we have just started on training 'sit and stay' but i honestly don't think that would work as he doesn't seem to have a long attention span. Also I don't feel giving time out would be appropriate as this only happens when he has been on his own for long periods so it doesn't seem right that i am immediately chastising him for greeting us.

We are hoping to do puppy training classes, but he won't be fully innoculated until this time next week so can't start this yet.

Can anyone offer any advice, my six year old is starting to become very wary of him and they have had a fab relationship so far i would hate for this to change.

Thanks in advance

Alfie's very tired mum

mine are still a bit over excited to see us in the morning, but i go down, don't speak - open the back door, bung them out - shut the door - make myself a cup of tea - and go out to say hello when they have calmed down! Have you tried having a favourite toy to hand, so that his little gob has something else to do when he sees you? Rufus is happiest when carrying around a blankie! Or maybe distract him with a 'find it' game, i hide bits of sausage or cheese round the garden, the snuffling always wears them out.

I would think just try and avoid the early morning greeting with your six year old - and hopefully he/she will grow in confidence as pup calms down - your dog trainer will have some good suggestions too, and shouldn't mind you phoning for advice, even though you haven't started classes officially yet.

Roly is one and still gets a bit daft in the morning. Although he is calming down a bit now.

When he was a bit younger we found ignorning him helped - he is in a playpen in our living room so we would walk straight through without acknowledging him - open the living room and conservatory doors and then walk back to 'release the beast'!! Then, like Polly we let him shoot straight out to the garden to run around like a loony for a bit.

He's calmer now and knows that if he wants us to greet him he has to sit - in fact he's just started sitting on our feet which is really sweet.

He's only daft when William (aged 9) gets up in the morning - he will still nip at William's sleeves - so Will ignores him and leaves the room - it takes about 3 goes of Roly going bonkers, William leaving the room and closing the door, Roly sitting looking puzzled at the closed door wondering where his playmate has gone and William coming back in! Eventually it sinks in and the mouthing stops.

Good luck - patience and consistency are the key I think

Ditto!
They wait until I'm ready, I do the same thing when I get in and there over excited.
Sue

Thanks very much everyone, i have been doing pretty much as you have suggested, so maybe it is a case of just being more patient with him. he has been better today as he seems to be picking up the 'sit stay' command. Not wearing my dressing gown helped this morning too, less to get hold of with the teeth

just try not to give any eye contact first thing - Ruby is still a bit like first thing in the morning and with certain visitors but is getting better as she gets older - just hang in there

Hi Alfiem,
we got barney at 4months and i know what you mean about the excitement and jumping and biteing barney used to be the same.. we have a utility room barney sleeps in its at the end of the kitchen by the back door .. we have a pet gate on the kitchen door so he can see us .. when we get up in the morning barney did the same jumping and biteing but we ignored him and if it got to much we put him back behind the gate then let him out again when hes calm... it did work... but takes time for them to get the message.. and he gets attention when sitting or lying on his back waiting for a stroke or hugs... regarding the biting... barney was scary when he did this i couldnt do anything to stop him.. we ended up tapping him with a newspaper but this was last resort and only had to do it once or twice he now only does it few and far between hes now 7months old... and wouldnt swap him for anything. hope this helps... x

Are these biting episodes before you feed Alfie in the morning?

12 week old puppies are growing very fast and it could be that Alfie is hungry. I noticed a marked increase in the amount my puppy would play bite when he was hungry. I used to feed him if he was being particularly bad (after getting him to do a sit or a down or something so that I wasn't rewarding the biting).

It always worked.

Not necessarily no. We do as others have sugggested and put him straight outside as soon as we come down. Then he gets left for a few mins while the kettle is put on!! then we usually feed him, the hyper jumping and biting then happens when he comes back in. He is just greeting us, which is understandable but i will start putting him back outside should his behaviour not improve, i have also just purchased a nylon chewy and korg, so maybe these will help.

Funnily enough i deliberately chose this time of the year to get the puppy because we are all at home more during the school holidays, but i actually think this is making matters worse because there are 5 of us around all the time which is getting him more excited.

Fingers crossed

Dexter is now 10 month old and i was lucky to get through the kitchen door in a morning like yourself i found it easier not to wear my dressing gown as he used to latch o n the sleeve and nearly pulled it off me sometimes. Now i say to him sit down so i can see you proporly and he responds better ,dont get me wrong he still jumps and trys to mouth at me sometimes but is getting there slow but sure. It is hard to push them off [especially when they are attatched ] and you do feel as though you are rejecting their greeting but i found by repeating the same phrase to him each time he gets too fussy he soon learnt to calm it abit. Good luck and hang in there it does get better

I have 4 dogs and so greetings can always be fraught.

I have some treats to scatter as I enter a room which distracts the guys long enough to get in and then I accept their greetings only when bums hit floor. I just find it easier to direct that first frenzy away from me and then deal with them.

Freddy always goes to grab me a toy and Chase also likes to do the same - I encourage it as it means they are being manic without mouthing on me .

There is no absolute right or wrong - you go for what works for you just so long as he can't practice imappropriate behaviour.

Yes as above, if I ever need to distract Tigger it's food all the way! Most springers are pretty easy to motivate with food.
So maybe you could keep some (dry ) treats in your dressing gown pocket. I know you may think that will encourage him to jump up even more but believe me if he only ever gets that treat when his little fluffy behind is on the floor you will soon have a picture of total obedience each morning when he learns the routine of
'mum walks in the door, i sit my backside down and here come the treat'



You will prob find that the hand sign for 'sit' is your arm bent up at the elbow infront of you when you start classes. So take the treat out of your dressing gown and do that and then when you DO go to classes he'll recognise that sign too. Its sometimes helpful to teach them the sign aswell as the command just in case you need to direct them from afar or in really noisy places.

I commend you for your patience though as we were really lucky that Tigger did not bite or nip us hardly at all during his puppy stages. Your training classes will hopefully teach you about bite inhibition too, which is really important.

Thanks again everyone

We have just returned from holiday and he stayed with my mother in law, awful timing, i was thinking, but in actual fact she has done really well with the training and since coming back to us he hasn't nipped us once.

Just need to get him used to his lead now!!!